


A Million Miles Between Us

by gwen_reilly



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Golden Trio, Other, Star Wars: The Force Awakens Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-06
Updated: 2016-01-06
Packaged: 2018-05-12 04:25:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5652367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwen_reilly/pseuds/gwen_reilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They hadn't seen each other in so long. After going through hell and back together, how could the currents of time cause them to drift apart?</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Million Miles Between Us

**Author's Note:**

> Another small one-shot studying the trio during the events of "The Force Awakens." Also I happened to listen to Adele's "Hello" and for some reason thought the song fit somewhat.
> 
> Again, if you have still not seen this movie, SPOILERS ABOUND. Feedback is appreciated and I hope you enjoy!

Han keeps himself busy. Striking up deals, gambling his feelings away. He knows Chewie doesn't like it, but what else can he do? He can't sit and brood and mope. He hated doing that and he hated when other people did it. You could either mope your life away or have a grand old time with whatever you had left. It was a philosophy he swore by even before he got caught up in all that Empire crap and Force mumbo-jumbo. On darker nights when the emptiness plagues him deeper than usual, he drinks it away. Chugs the strongest drink the bar can offer. Sometimes he even blacks out. Chewie carries him, he guesses. All that he remembers is the throbbing hangover that follows. That, and Chewie's reprimanding roars. In his rare moments alone, Han contemplates returning home. Then he presumes Leia doesn't want to see him. Or that's what he convinces himself. There was so much of Ben in both of them. When he saw her, he saw who they had lost. And they didn't only lose Ben.

Han sometimes wonders about Luke. Spending so much time with him, Han knew precisely what Luke would say if he drank himself into oblivion. But yet, what would Luke do? Would Luke run away from his problems just as he had? It sure seemed like he did. 

Well, the kid should quit blaming himself and stop moping around and show up once in a while. That's what he thinks.

He certainly doesn't feel sorry for Luke when he ups and runs off in his solitude. And he certainly doesn't miss him.

\---

Leia does what she does best: lead. There is no time to cry. There is no time to mope. There is only the next battle, and the next tactic, and the next part of a bigger plan. There is no crying, only moving forward. She leads by example. She leads with a clear head and direct orders. She doesn't see herself particularly as a Princess; she is a diplomat. A leader. She holds the Resistance up, just the way she spoke boldly for the old Rebel Alliance. She likes to believe she held up Luke and Han at one point, too. When Luke was just about to give up, or lose hope, she would say just the right thing to keep him going. She sharply talked some sense into Han whenever he said or did something she deemed ridiculous. 

But yet, where were they now? Leia doesn't pretend she doesn't miss them. She's never been good at lying to herself. She learned that the hard way with Han. Perhaps she wasn't as good with words as she believed. She wished Han would stay still long enough to at least answer her messages (if she was lucky enough to even get said messages to him). She wished she could tap into whatever she inherited from her father to somehow bring Luke home. 

It wasn't your fault. It wasn't yours or Han's. We did everything we could. We always have.

Everything they could wasn't enough now. It frustrates her, saddens her. When she was younger, she believed the three of them could do just about anything. If they could bring down not one, but two Death Stars, then they could handle just about anything.

They couldn't handle this. She wipes the tears threatening to fall.

There is no time to cry. There is only the next step.

\---

Luke likes to believe he's better off alone. To some extent, he is; it was not uncommon for him to go on missions for the Alliance alone. Training as a Jedi involved an empty path. Master Yoda said attachments could be troublesome. In his older age, a part of him understands what the wise old Jedi meant. Those attachments tugged at his heart, caused tremors in his connection to the Force. It's been so long he cannot imagine a life without Han and Leia. Yet here he was, alone day after day.

He planted the seeds in case he needed to be found. He frowns. Is it better he is never found? He had caused so much trouble as it was. Was the path to being a skilled Jedi always meant to be one of solitude? Was it better to remain hidden? After Ben...

It's only a matter of time, he muses sadly. Han and Leia were never the types to give up. That's why they worked so well. Even when Luke swore he'd done enough, Han would tell him there's another battle to win. Leia would give him gentle but firm words of hope and motivation.

There were too many things dividing them now. 

Perhaps it was better they were separated. Perhaps it was better they never reunited.

 

 


End file.
